Esperanza Rising: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

As the weeks go by, Esperanza realizes that the strikers are “more organized than ever.” They hand out fliers, paint their slogans on old barns, and hold meetings regularly. Though Esperanza continues to work, she grows nervous—and her neighbors do, too. Asparagus season is approaching, and the vegetables must be picked before the high heat comes in June. Esperanza and the others know that the strikers’ plan is to strike just as the “tender stalks” become ready for plucking.

When Esperanza, Hortensia, and Josefina arrive at the packing shed on the first day of the strike, they are met by a picket line of women booing and urging them to join the strike. Esperanza is frightened and intimidated, and wishes she could explain to the women how badly she needs her job—but she knows her voice alone does not matter to them. That night at dinner, Esperanza and the other women compare their days with Alfonso, Juan, and Miguel’s—their workdays, too, were affected by the strike.

As the strike goes on, the women in the packing shed find “surprises” in the crates of asparagus they’re sorting—rats, broken glass, snakes, and razor blades all make their way mysteriously into the boxes of produce. There is nothing anyone can do about the strikers, though—America is a free country, and as long as no one catches them doing anything harmful or illegal, their campaign will continue. Alfonso states that things will soon get better, but Miguel thinks they’ll get worse—workers from desperate plains states have been flocking to the farms offering to take the strikers’ jobs for even lower wages and worse conditions.

One day, Esperanza is packing asparagus when she notices something strange. The strikers’ chanting, which has become the background noise of her days, suddenly ceases. The other women notice, too, and as they look out the window, they see a caravan of buses and police cars outside—Josefina shouts that “immigration” has arrived to do a “sweep.” The strikers flee and scatter to escape la migra. Esperanza worries that the officials will come for her and the others, but Hortensia explains that the company needs them, and will guard them.

As Esperanza watches strikers being loaded onto the buses, Josefina explains that regardless of citizenship status, they will all be sent back to Mexico—they are causing problems for the government by talking about forming a farm workers’ union, and the government doesn’t like dissent. Josefina tells Esperanza that it’s time to get back to work—and to “feel thankful” that they are not the ones getting pushed onto the bus.

Esperanza realizes that she needs more elastics to bundle the asparagus. She goes out to the dock behind the shed to retrieve them. Huddled in between a “maze of tall crates,” she finds Marta, who begs Esperanza not to tell anyone she’s there—she has to take care of her mother, and cannot be caught. Though Esperanza thinks of how mean Marta has been to her, she knows that she can’t play a role in separating the girl from her mother. Esperanza quietly retrieves a spare apron and some burlap sacks from a nearby hook and gives them to Marta, so that she will look like a worker and be able to sneak past la migra. Marta thanks Esperanza—and apologizes for misjudging her.

That night, Esperanza lies in bed, listening to the adults in the next room talk about the strike. There are rumors that the police arrested and deported the strikers simply to make more jobs for the white Americans coming in from the east. Hortensia is relieved that the strike is over, but Miguel says it isn’t—in time, the strikers will regroup, reorganize, and come back even stronger, and their family will soon be faced again with the choice of whether or not to join them. Esperanza cannot stop thinking about Marta, and whether she made her way back to the strikers’ farm without being caught.

The next morning, Esperanza asks Miguel to drive her to the strikers’ farm before the start of work. When they arrive, the camp is basically abandoned. Miguel notes that immigration has been here, too. Esperanza looks across the field but sees no sign of Marta anywhere. She hopes quietly that Marta and her mother are together, wherever they are.